Chapter 16: Trouble Maker
[Edited: August 29, 2015]
(Louis P.O.V)
I put my arm around Eleanor and I saw Lilly's shocked face. I gave her a worried look, "What's wrong, Lilly?" She didn't answer, just continued to gape at us silently.
"Um. . . it's just - Hi, Eleanor, you're are. . . wow - uh, idol. . ." Lilly stuttered, a grin creeping onto her face. reddening with embarrassment.
The boys and I chuckled, aware that Lilly had been wanting to meet our girlfriends for some time now. Danielle and Perrie smiled brightly as Eleanor came towards Lilly and engulfed her in a hug.
"Aw, you're so sweet, Lilly! I'm so honored to meet the acclaimed secret Tomlinson. And you are so beautiful, you just might be my idol!" Lilly gazed up and hugged El again, a fat smile sitting on her face as she squealed, jumping up and down a little.
"Thank you, Eleanor. I love you so much, and you to Lou! Thanks for this opportunity, I don't know how to react," My little sister gushed, looking between El and me.
I shrugged, "Meet your new babysitters!"
~
(Riley's P.O.V)
Having Danielle Peazer standing in front of me is probably the best moment I've ever had in my whole entire life. Well, besides meeting, living, and hanging out with One Direction. She was like my idol, and I felt the same way Lilly felt to Eleanor. Dani was a dancer, and I've been wanting dance as good as her since I was three years old!
Danielle smiled at me. "Are you Riley?" She asked. I nodded. "I heard all about you from Liam and that you look up to me. I'd love to see your skills someday." I grinned, my cheeks turning red as she gave me a wink before wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into a hug.
What skills, Ri? You haven't danced in months! I silently pushed my thoughts away, hoping that day wouldn't come soon.
"Alright, since we have some work to do, you two will go with the girls to go shopping and whatever else girl's do these days," Liam informed us.
Lilly was jumping up and down, "Wait, but I want to watch you boys sing and practice!" Lilly pleaded, changing her mind last second. My brothers shook their heads. "Sorry Lil, we need to get a lot of work done in such a small amount of time." Nonetheless, Lilly continued to protest. They still said no.
I really have no idea why this girl thinks they'd give in so easily. I sighed, grabbed Lilly's arm and dragged her outside to the cars, mumbling a quick goodbye to the boys. I pushed her into the car as she landed on her bum. She glared at me, pouting. "Riley! I wanted to go! Not walk around for hours."
"You're the one who insisted to go shopping! Don't go changing your mind the last second!" I yelled, climbing in beside her. The three other girls got in the car as our driver started driving. Lilly and I continued yelling at each other, my temper rising slowly with my obnoxious sister.
"We could've just went another day," Lilly huffed. I rolled my eyes, throwing a glare in her direction, "Are you ill? We are the sisters of the most famous boyband in the world and you think we have the freedom to do anything at any given time?"
"Of course! We don't even need babysitters, we're 13!"
Perrie turned around from the row in front of us, "Hey girls, why don't the both of you settle down until we get to the mall? We'll be quick so Lilly can make it with the boys, but just enough time for Riley to get everything she needs. Deal?"
Lilly and I glanced at each other before looking out opposite windows, nodding solemnly.
~
The driver pulled into an empty car garage on the fourth floor, ensuring the least amount of people so we wouldn't be seen. We made it to Legacy Mall. I've only been here a few times since I wasn't much of a shopper. Still, every time I see the towering mall with its many glass walls, I can't help but look around in awe. Legacy Mall contained four floors of any store you could think of, a huge arcade that took up two floors, a three-floored food center, and even a roller skating rink. No matter how much I disliked shopping, being here seemed like a dream.
I watched Lilly get out of the car glumly and I felt a bit regretful after our quarrel. I walked over to her, tapping her shoulder to get her attention. "I'm sorry Lilly, I should've just let you stay with the boys," I apologized.
Lilly nodded, "It's okay, I just overreacted. I'm sorry for wanting to bail on you." As we shared smiles, we followed the girls to the mall.
"Okay where to first?" Perrie asked happily, twirling around as she studied the vast mall.
"Umm. . . how about we go to Abercrombie, then Aeropostale, then Hollister, then Forever 21. They're all on this floor anyway. After that we could go to some of your favorite shops or just make our way down each floor," Lilly replied. We agreed, thanking her for a strategic plan. I checked my watch, 3:00 pm. Hopefully, we'll be done by 6:00 pm.
We spent 30-45 minutes in each store, buying a bunch of clothes each because we have quite the money to spend. I hated feeling spoiled. . . but I guess one day wouldn't hurt.
~
(Lilly's P.O.V)
Three hours of shopping flew by. We were now in a bag store, the 3 girls looking for a new one. We stayed outside, sitting on a bench surrounded by all our shopping bags. It was 6:48 in the evening and I didn't know how much longer I could survive.
"I'm so tired. . ." I whined, turning my body to lie down on the bench when I saw a huge store behind us. I shot up.
"Riley! Look, look, look, there's the arcade! Let's go!" I screamed, pointing at the huge arcade behind us, that connected to the next floor with spiral stairs. The arcade was dark but had many flashes of bright colors and disco lights that lit it up.
Riley grinned, following towards the arcade before she stopped. "Lilly, hold on. What about our bags? And the girls?" I turned around for a split second not wanting to waste any more time. "We're just across from them, and Kenny's just in the loo, he'll be back to watch our bags." With one more look over my shoulder, I ran inside the store, Riley close behind.
First, we went towards the desk to buy a cup full of tokens for each game. I made sure to play every single game available, no matter how childish it could be. Every time we played against each other, I also made it another mission to beat Riley. I held my record proudly until she beat me in the water blast gun. Guess I can't aim for my life. After circling around the store, I persuaded my sister to climb the rock wall, even though I had a huge fear of heights myself.
After climbing, we packed all our tickets and found a group of kids to give them to. I didn't really like any of the prizes the desk had, so might as well be a good citizen and pass on my wealth. Besides, winning was already the best prize, right behind bragging in Ri's face every ten seconds.
Saving the best for last, we were about to start laser tag when I heard someone say my name. We turned around and saw two boys standing a few feet away from us. I recognized one face. Calum.
"Oh, hey Calum!" I smiled, waving.
He smiled back, making his way closer to us. "Hey, Lilly." He then turned to Riley with a curious face. "Hey, Riley. You haven't been to school lately, and I just heard the news. Are you alright?" Riley nodded, giving him a kind smile before looking down, sadness seeping into her thoughts as she remembered her family's accident.
The other boy spoke up, noticing the silence. "Hey, I'm Jake. I'm a friend of Calum." I nodded and gave him a grin as I introduced myself.
"Nice to meet you, Jake. I'm Lilly and I suppose you know Riley from school. So, what are you guys doing here?" I asked as Riley smiled at him.
"We were just hanging in the arcade and we saw you, so we wanted to come over," Calum replied. "Plus you gave my little sister your bucket-full of tickets and she screamed so loudly. Thanks for that."
My sister shrugged, her spirits lifting a bit. "We just came to play games, not prizes. Do you maybe want to play laser tag with us?" Riley asked. I beamed at her, turning to the boys as we waited for their response. The boys looked at each other before nodding."It's on!" I yelled.
Surprisingly, Riley and I were on the blue team together and Calum and Jake were on red.
"3. . . 2. . . 1, Go!" Yelled the speaker after they gave us a minute and a half to settle into the gigantic room that was filled with obstacles. I loved laser tag, mostly because of the black lights that lit up the room in a purple color and lit up on white clothing. It just looked so cool.
Riley and I stayed downstairs, crouching behind a wall while the red team climbed up the ramp to the second level. We didn't really plan with the blue team, so we were kinda on our own. Suddenly, I heard a laser shot. I peered over the wall and saw Jake standing a few feet in front of the wall. I smiled, dodged his second laser by crouching down before popping back up and aimed for his chest. I pulled the trigger and quickly pushed Riley to the next wall. I looked up again and saw he got hit. I smirked.
I ran over to Riley who was a further down in the room, helping her out with some kids on the red team. I had a sense something was behind me, so I turned around and saw Calum. I shot him quickly, ran over to Riley, and dragged her to a different spot. So far I have 245 points. I'm in 2nd place. Calum was 1st, Jake was 3rd, and Riley was 4th. Not for long. I'll catch up to Calum.
Then, I noticed the color of red hiding behind the ramp. I looked for someplace to take cover and shoot that group. I saw a wall and ran over to it. Riley figured out my plan and nodded.
I counted down on my fingers. 3, 2, 1. We both stood up and shot everyone under the ramp. There were about 10 people under there, including Calum. I shot him for good measure and we quickly ran to the ramp that leads to the second floor.
We climbed up carefully and saw another group of red scouting from the top. Jake was leading. Where in the world are the other kids on my team? Hopefully, they're doing good. I want to win this.
Riley and I hid behind a barrier and listened closely to what Jake was saying. I knew Jake was very competitive since he was yelling out orders and commands to everyone. He was like the captain. And I was the pirate coming to steal his ship. I thought about a plan.
I studied the second floor, taking note of each corner. Quite simply, it was square shaped. It had two windows that overlooked the first floor. There is another triangle shaped hole with railings in the middle of it to look through there. There were three kids on each side. No one was guarding the ramp, and Jake was walking around the whole platform. There were four others looking over the sides, and down to the first floor.
Making my skin jump, I heard footsteps behind us as I spun around ready to shoot before I saw three other blue team members. Relieved, I quietly explained the plan to them. If the five of us could split up, two of them can shoot the four kids on each side, two kids take the three in the middle as I try to get Jake, but I knew he wasn't going to be easy. We just had to time it when most of them were turned around.
I looked over to her and gave her a wave, A.K.A the signal. The five of us stepped out of the barrier, shooting what we were assigned to. Jake, quick to react, shot one of my teammates and he ducked, having to wait for a two-minute penalty. we had to dodge them. The four members by the windows were down, two of the kids on the red team along with Jake remained.
Jumping up, I dodged a shot before I shot one of the kids. Another one of my teammates got hit, leaving the three of us. I saw Riley being backed up in a corner by Jake. I needed to hurry up. I tried shooting Jake but missed since I ducked quickly from a shot from the other red team member. I aimed for him, my attention taken away from Riley. I began to blast randomly now, trying to aim for his vest. Surprisingly, I got him as he hid to take cover for two minutes.
In one swift motion, I turned to Jake, clicking on the trigger. Nothing happened. Clicking it again, I looked down on my vest, realizing I had gotten shot and had to wait for two minutes until I could play again. Three of my teammates were able to get back in the game, protecting me from the other five red team players from hitting me. Rushing back to my barrier, I counted down the seconds before hopping back on my feet, aiming for Jake. Pulling the trigger, the game then ended, a bell sounding throughout the room. I smiled smugly, noticing Jake's vest blink red, meaning he had gotten hit.
Turning around, I heard a curse as my eyes fell upon Calum, a few feet away from me. "I was so close to getting you, Lilly. But one shot wouldn't matter since we all know I won."
I climbed down the ramp, brushing past him with a laugh, "Yeah, we'll see about that."
The doors opened as I lead my friends into the lit up room where we would hang up our suits and guns before exiting the game.
Spinning on my heel, I tilted my head up to view the screen, waiting for the scoreboard. First, it showed the ranks in the two teams. On the blue team, I was number one, and Riley was second. On the red, Calum was first and Jake second. We turned to each other and high fived, a feeling of pride growing in the air.
Next, it showed the ranks. I was first, Calum was second, Riley fourth and Jake third. I cheered loudly, doing a little happy dance. I had beat Calum by one point and I knew it was thanks to the last hit on Jake. Nonetheless, we got the top five!
"Ha!" I laughed, shoving an L shaped hand into his Cal's face.
Finally, the scoreboard showed which team won. To no surprise, the red team had won, meaning it really was just me, Riley and a handful of other kids fighting, assuming that everyone else was hiding.
"Ha!" Calum mimicked as I rolled my eyes before bursting into snickers again.
Riley, the two boys and I walked out of the arcade, feeling a bit beat. "So. . . what are you guys gonna do now?" Riley asked.
They shrugged. "Wanna come with us and get some ice cream? We can hang out in the food court," Jake suggested. Riley and I glanced at each other before making a silent decision. "Sure, why not?" I replied.
Riley nudged me. "What about the girls? They'll be looking for us." Of course, Riley being the careful one. No wonder she's closest to Liam.
"Calm down Ri, I'll text them. Anyway, we've been gone for an hour, but have they even bothered to call us yet? No. So, we're fine," I shrugged. Riley hesitated a second before nodding, knowing I was right. To be honest, I haven't checked my phone in over an hour, but I would've felt the ringing, right?
I took out my phone and texted Eleanor. Just in time, I sent the message before my phone died. Glancing up to see my sister and new found friends waiting for me, I put my phone in my pocket and followed them to the food court.
~
"Um. . . I want mint chocolate. And add hot fudge on top, please," I added, beaming at the nice lady behind the cashier.
"I want a banana split," Riley smiled.
"Okay. I'll get chocolate and what about you, Jake?" Calum asked.
"Umm. . . I think I want a sundae, I'm feeling hungry," He answered.
"Okay so, one mint chocolate and a chocolate, both on a cone. And then one banana split and a sundae?" The lady recited as we all nodded.
"Good, that'll be $10.94. Seperate or all together?" She asked. I took out some money out of my bag and looked up, "I'll be paying for the mint chocolate and the bana-"
Calum held my arm back, his hand on my elbow. "Don't worry. I'll pay," He interruped, throwing me a grin. I smiled back and thanked him, feeling heat rising up onto my cheeks.
"Cliché, much?" I teased as I put my money away.
"What can I say, I like my movies," He winked, laughing. I rolled my eyes, moving further down the counter as I waited for my ice cream. After a few minutes, we finally got our desserts and sat at a table.
We chatted for a bit, stopping whenever we got brain freezes. Soon, I noticed Riley was literally bouncing in her seat. "Woah, Ri, calm down! It's like ice cream gets you all hyper," I noted, watching her get all giddy as she took another spoonful.
"I just, I love ice cream!" She screamed, causing us to break out into laughter, recieving a few more looks from strangers around us.
"You're crazy," Jake teased, shaking his head.
"It's all of me or none of me," Riley replied. I giggled, watching the two as they quickly looked at their ice cream after gazing at each other. Aw they're so cute!
Calum and I looked at each other and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. He suddenly pulled a funny face and I cracked up. "So wanna play 20 questions?" I asked after the conversation died down. They agreed as I asked the first question.
"Jake, how old are you and when's your birthday?"
"Sounds like an interrogation to me, but I'm 13 and my birthday is on February 13."
"Lilly, what's it like living with the most famous band in the world?" Calum asked.
I smiled at his question, my heart happy whenever the boys were brought up. "Well, first off, it's what you'd expect from five lads living under one roof. Crazy. They go from one place to another, they wake up way too early and they have so much stuff to do. But other than that, it's awesome."
"Riley, describe yourself in 5 words," Jake said next.
"Crazy. Shy. Weird. Loud. Quiet." Jake gave her a curious look, observing that most of those words contradicted each other. Riley ignored him, knowing it very well herself as she turned to Cal. "Calum, how did you meet Lilly?"
"Well, it was at the mall, sometime last week and I saw her trip on thin air when she was walking out of the game store. I ran over to see if she was okay, the first thought on my mind was how you can even trip by walking normally."
I butt in before anyone else could protest, "I'm a clumsy person, it's not my fault!" I exclaimed, raising my hands up in defense.
~
"Wow, that was interesting," I laughed, after finishing the game.
"Yup, now what do we do?" Calum replied. Suddenly, Riley took her phone out and looked at it with big eyes.
"What's wrong?" Jake asked, seeing Riley's face too. She didn't answer, only shoving the phone in my face. I took it and examined it, scrolling down her notifications. 198 text messages. 15 missed calls. It was 8:45. Oh my god, we've been out for almost two hours!
"We are in huge trouble," I groaned, passing the phone to the boys as I sat forward, banging my head onto the table.
"I told you, Lilly! Now, look what you did? They are probably looking everywhere in the whole mall for us. Do you see how huge this mall is? They must feel terrible. Why do I ever listen to you?" She screamed frantically as I looked up, meeting her gaze. Her eyes bore into mine, nothing but anger flashed in them.
"I'm sorry," I apologized, a wave of guilt filled my insides. I sighed as I started to search around the food court, looking for the boys. A few moments later, I spotted them at the entrance, their eyes frozen on us. Even from where I stood, across the long food centre, I knew they were full of disappointment. The girls looked scared as well, since they thought they had lost us. I saw Louis pointed my finger at me, demanding us there that instant and I realized they couldn't come to us since they weren't even wearing desguises. Before I moved forward, I turned and said goodbye to Calum and Jake.
Ri and I grudged towards them, preparing for a night full of scolding. They whirled their backs to us, not muttering a weird as we made our way to the car. I dreaded being in the car, having five, plus three - maybe even Riley - people all feeling nothing but frustration with me. Oh, what fun this'll be. We climbed into the van, I got in the fourth and last row, not wanting to hear or talk to anyone. Riley sat two seats to my right, huffing as she crossed her arms.
"You're grounded," Liam stated to the both of us, not a hint of any emotion in his tone. Still, I nodded, not daring to looking at either of them.
"For one month. Lilly, that's an extra half month for you," Louis added. He didn't need to explain. They all knew it was my idea to leave and my fault for not watching my phone. A month and a half. Fabulous.
I sat, not making a noise as the van started in motion, making its' way back home. I didn't bother retaliating or even moving my attention away from the window. I didn't have the energy.
Someone shook me, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw Perrie. "Come on, we're home, Lilly." I nodded, climbing out as I followed her into the house. Either I was stuck in my thoughts absent-mindly, or I fell asleep without noticing.
"I'm sorry Perrie," I said, stopping in my tracks in front of the door. She turned around, giving me a soft smile. "It's okay Lilly, it's not your fault. It was-" She started.
I shook my head. "No, it was mine," I stated before walking further into the house and making my way towards the stairs. I hate how people blame themselves when it was clearly me. I can take the credit, I'm fine.
Just as I set one foot onto the first step, a pair of arms came up behind me and carried me to the living room. Riley, the boys, and the girls sat, waiting. Louis sat me down on the floor, gripping my shoulders in case I would run away. I sat and stared at the floor. Wow, I never noticed how clean it was.
"Lilly. Look at me." I slowly looked up and locked my gaze with Liam. Tears were daring to fall from my eyes, but I wasn't going to let them go. Can't they just leave it alone? I know I got I trouble, I accepted it. Now what?!
~~~~~
Authors note
Hey guys!!!
Sorry for the late update, like I said, I've been VERY busy. And here's a big present for the short chapters lately. And do you guys like Jake??😏
Anyways, next week I'm going back on schedule, updating on Wednesdays and weekends.
ps, im so sorry for all of my short authors note
Oh and did anyone notice I named my chapter a song? I must be really bored....oh well....
Bye awesome peeps!!!!!!